1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to dielectric layers, electronic devices, and processes, and more particularly to a dielectric layer including a metallic oxide, an electronic device comprising the dielectric layer, and an electronic device including a layer that includes grains.
2. Description of the Related Art
State-of-the-art metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MISFETs) require gate dielectric layers having a relatively high dielectric constant (“high-k”). For the purposes of this specification, a high-k material has a dielectric constant higher than silicon nitride, which is approximately seven. One such material is HfO2. A MISFET having an HfO2 gate dielectric layer suffers from a relatively lower mobility of carriers within the MISFET's channel region and degraded reliability.
One attempt to address the shortcomings of an HfO2 gate dielectric layer is to use a laminated gate dielectric layer that includes separate films. A laminated gate dielectric layer typically has an interface between each of the films within the gate dielectric layer. The interface(s) are undesired because they are more likely to have defects, trapped charge, or a combination thereof at the interface(s) as opposed to a gate dielectric layer that is not a laminate.
Another attempt to address the shortcomings of a high-k gate dielectric layer is to include one or more impurities within the gate dielectric layer. An HfO2 layer may include a divalent or a trivalent impurity. Alternatively, ZrO2 layer include the divalent or the trivalent impurity. The divalent or trivalent impurity typically has chemical and physical properties significantly different from hafnium and zirconium. Therefore, adding a divalent or trivalent impurity to HfO2 or ZrO2 is undesired.
Hafnium and zirconium have similar chemical and physical properties. Separating the two from each other can be difficult. Therefore, hafnium typically includes at least trace amounts of zirconium. Such trace amounts can approach 0.067 atomic % Zr when compared to the sum of the hafnium and zirconium atoms present.
Skilled artisans appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the invention.